Snow Bound
by Tyr'll
Summary: Beast Boy visits the Zoo. [oneshot]
1. Snow Bound

Beast boy stared into the swirling depths of the snow. It amused him how something so small, when joined together, could be so powerful. He watched from the upper part of the Titan T, as the entire ground floor was covered in snow. He and the others were snowbound, but surprisingly, he felt at peace.

Beast boy had been watching the tranquil white clouds drift down for an hour now, probably the longest he had been able to sit still for a while. Lately he had been in deeper thought than most people thought possible for him.

He felt tired, out of place in the tower, like he didn't belong in the solitude that came with being snowbound. True, he wanted out, but…

These last few days he had grown closer to the other titans, more forcefully than by real choice though. He sighed as he stood. He needed to stretch for a while now. Sitting in the cold watching the snow had locked up his muscles, making it hard to move.

Quietly, he treaded down the hallway back to his bedroom. His door hissed with the sudden release of air as it opened. He quickly stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Beast boy glanced around his recently cleaned room.

He really only cleaned his room on occasion, but today he had been out of it. The snowy show that he had just taken a break from had given him a sense on duty. Just this morning he had even bothered to was his laundry, something he usually did once a month to keep himself clothed, but had done today after just a week.

Beast boy walked briskly over to the other side of his room, where a candle sat silently burning, filling the room with a delicious aroma. The smell of lilacs filled the room and his keen animal senses, causing his head to spin. He reached out and deftly snuffed the candle. That was enough for today. Luckily, the smell of lilacs would remain for the next few hours.

The changeling's stomach growled and he grimaced. "Maybe I should get something to eat," he thought. His stomach growled again, only this time louder. "Check that, I definitely should get something to eat."

Beast boy left the quiet protection of his room in search for something to eat, and padded off in the direction of the kitchen.

Upon reaching the destination, he wondered, "What to have, what to have…? Something warm? Yeah, soup is warm…isn't it? Ooh, and cider too! Hot apple cider! Mmm…"

He closed his eyes in delight at the thought of his desired meal. Suddenly, his eyes fell on last week's newspaper. The one Robin was obsessed with. The newspaper that announced, with finality, the defeat of the notorious Slade. Beast boy shook his head. The team's leader would never let it go. Terra had-

Terra…

Terra, he closed hid eyes. The thought still burned. But he could get over it. He knew he would, but he still needed time to think. He gathered up his desired meal, and left for his room again. Cider and tomato soup, the only soup in the tower that didn't have some kind of meat inside. Who says he only eats tofu? Oh yeah, Cyborg does.

The green haired super hero reentered his room, pleased to find that the pleasant aroma of lilacs hadn't left yet. He took a seat and took a huge slurp of his rapidly cooling soup.

He gagged as it burned the roof of his mouth. He placed it oh his dresser, intending to give it time to cool. As he turned away, his eyes caught his refection in his mirror. His reflection stared back at him, mocking him. How he hated his green skin. It was the reason for his suffering; the reason normal people hated him. But not Terra…

Beast boy closed his eyes. He needed to stop that train of thought. But he couldn't. He sighed and sat on his bed, reaching under his pillow. He pulled out a worn letter, a letter asking for forgiveness. A letter written by Terra the night she betrayed them. He had found it in her room, addressed to him. The letter asked for his forgiveness, for the team's forgiveness, for what she was about to do.

And he still hadn't given it. It hurt, and he knew he would get over it, so he had decided to move on. Moving slowly, he coaxed his candle back to life, and brought the letter to the flame. He let the smell of burning paper disperse throughout the room.

Beast boy returned to his soup, smelling the new aroma. Lilacs and burning paper…

The smell of freedom.


	2. Visiting the Zoo

The zoo, what a wonderful place for a visit. Animals yowling, children crying, big annoying adults complaining, the place didn't seem like much to the other titans…

Which is mainly why Beast boy always went alone. Today wasn't too different from most, he wasn't alone, but he really didn't have company either. Today his visit consisted of visiting his friends in their cages.

Yes…his friends.

Contrary to the common belief, the green haired titan didn't mind that the animals were licked in cages. They were fed and taken care of in a way that couldn't be possible in the wild. In fact, he even found that most of the animals enjoyed it. He made it his duty to make sure they were well taken care of, but he never really had to say anything.

If the animals were content with their lifestyle, who was he to complain?

Beast boy made sure to visit often, and was a common sight to all of the regular workers. It had reached a point where he was even offered lunch along with the animals, as long as lunch consisted of non-meat products. He spent any time that he wasn't for some reason required to be at the tower here. The other titans never even noticed when he was missing. He planned his excursions all too well.

On this afternoon, the energetic changeling had already visited and checked up on most of the tamer animals, those that didn't mind his company.

"Oy," he commented, plopping down on one of the park benches, "I should probably take a break before visit the rhino…" He suddenly started giggling, and soon grew into a full-grown, gut splitting laugh. His hysterics had been triggered when he remembered the last weeks little trip, when the rhino had charged his rhino form.

He had changed almost immediately into the King of Beasts, the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The rhino had skidded to a stop, and one of the zoo attendants had had the luck to catch that incident on film. The rhino's temper was well known, and its ego had only grown after Beast boy left, but at the time, the attendants had actually welcomed its obvious confusion and fear, the rhino's weakness. They even gave Beast boy a copy of the picture.

He laughed as he pulled out the pic from his back pocket. He calmed himself, and took a good look.

Then he gasped and dropped the photo. In his haste to leave for the zoo that morning, he had grabbed the wrong one. His eyes teamed with salt water as the full brunt of the picture took into effect. The picture was one that he usually loved to look at. It was probably even the only picture like it in existence.

It was a picture of Raven's smile.

He gulped, and bent down to pick the photo back up. He studied it closely, committing the entire thing to memory once again. He sighed as he placed it back into his pocket, the image still lingering in his memory.

This was the last time he had ever gotten Raven to smile. It was even the last time he had gotten her to acknowledge him at all. Lately she had been blowing him off to go find ways to hang with Robin. Beast boy almost hated the boy wonder for it, he was so jealous. Robin had everything Beast boy wanted.

He had fame, recognition, respect, a cool vehicle, multitudes of fan girls, and even had a loving stepfather, even if he tried to hide that. Beast boy knew more of Robin's past than the raven-haired wonder would ever guess. He knew that Robin's parents had been killed, and even that the legendary Batman had taken him in.

Beast boy had similar things happen to him, his parents were gone too. The only difference was that nobody wanted to adopt him. He had to live alone throughout most of his childhood. The only family he knew of was the titans. They meant the world to him. They meant so much to him, he felt all of their pains, and tried to help. He felt all of their accomplishments and was ready to celebrate. He had always wanted to make them as happy as they had made him.

He loved his family more than life itself. He had to give up on so many things to make them happy, but he never complained. He had even had to give up Terra, the one person that had loved him back, because she had turned on the others. He forgave her for turning on him, but until the others forgave her, the best he would allow himself to do would be to keep her grave beautiful. Her final resting place free of weeds and well stocked with flowers. The others thought he did it out of love, but no…

He did it to thank her for loving him. To thank her for giving him a chance and making him happy. He did it not because he loved her, but because she loved him.

Beast boy quietly wiped his eyes and got up from the bench. His trip to the zoo was over, he needed to be reassured of something. He needed to return to his family, to return to those he loved,

Even if they could never love him.


End file.
